Respects
by ye'oldsoomin
Summary: There comes a time in everyone's life when they must pay respects to someone who left this world. In Karakura Town, it's a very well known fact.


Respects

* * *

It was out of the ordinary. No special occasion, no reason to go. But in his mind, he felt guilty about avoiding the truth. He knew it would be hard, but it would have come sooner or later.

Up the steps and walk along the road to the fifth grave. And he would reach to his destination.

_Masaki Kurosaki_

He skipped school, of course. It's not like the teachers actually cared if he was present or not. His

friends that actually were worried about him already knew where he was. Everything has been taken cared of.

The teen sat down in front of the grave, thinking. It wasn't everyday that you began to talk about your life story to a grave.

He began to sort his stories into one long tale.

_From the beginning, I guess, _he thought.

"Okaa-san, it's been a while. I guess I should explain. You already know about me becoming a Shinigami, but a lot of things happen in a short amount of time," he began. People began to stare at him as he talked openly about things they would call crazy. But to him, it was his reality.

He told her about Aizen and the betrayal, about the Hollow within him, about Zangetsu, about the enemies he defeated, about the war, and about the friends and allies he made along the way.

Now that he thought about it, most of the friends he made had tried to kill him one way or another in their own unique way. Even now, he still wonders if the friends he made won't turn on him or try to creep in a sneak attack.

The journey was crazy. Things from defeating a town Hollow to defeating the most powerful Shinigami in history. And this was all accomplished by a teenager, not over fifteen. He lost count the number of times he had died and miraculously come back to life before being truly killed.

He also disappeared so many times. His sisters were hugging and wouldn't let go by the time he came back to their house. They even went to so far as to putting him on lock down for a week to make sure he didn't disappear again. Even Goat-face seemed a little worried for his son.

He could see that Yuzu was crying for him when he went into her room. The room was decorated of pictures of him as if he had died and would never come back.

The teen's thoughts then thought back to the person whose grave he was sitting at. He began to wonder how his mother would react if she were still alive.

Had his mother been alive, she would have scolded him about getting hurt.

Had his mother been alive, she would have punish him for being away for so long for many days.

Had his mother been alive, she would have cried tears for him.

Had his mother been alive, she would hug her with tears of joy for he son saying she was proud of him and thankful that he was still alive after all he's been through.

Had his mother been alive, she would have shrug the whole story, no matter how unbelievable it was, and just be glad that her son was alive, healthy, and safe.

Three hours passed as he told his tale to the open air. As the sun rose above his head and had just know began to drop. He prayed his respects as he finished the tale. His scowl had been replaced with a bright smile while he talked, like the one he had when he was a child.

"Okaa-san, Yuzu and Karin are doing great. Their grades are always high and they're always busy. Goat-face is still his old self. Nothing changed," the red head finished.

For once, he didn't feel regret for causing his mother's death.

"Everyone else, well they're okay in their own way. Rukia and Renji are back in Soul Society, and we're just here enjoying a normal life as much as we can,"

He didn't feel the sorrow that came every time he came to the grave.

"And I'm just glad that everyone is okay. See you later, Okaa-san," he breathed and began walking home.

Somewhere in Soul Society, there was a woman with great beauty and generosity to match. She had been listening to her son's prayer from Earth for the last three hours. Tears flowed out onto her cheeks as she listened to his courageous story.

Masaki Kurosaki was proud to call Ichigo Kurosaki her son.

* * *

Who should be next?


End file.
